Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I have a large ocean front rental in Nags Head that is only 7 years old and my kitchen cabinets are falling apart. Why ?
A: "Factory" (name brand) cabinets are designed and built for your personal home where they will typically hold a place setting for 8, which weighs about 50 lbs. The kitchen cabinets in a large vacation rental home that sleeps 20+ people has to hold 3 times that weight in dishes, glasses, silverware, etc. The cabinets in your rental home were not built for this extra weight which is why they are coming apart. You're not the only homeowner who has experienced this problem, as it frequently happens in the rental homes here in the Outer Banks. That's exactly why we engineer and build our cabinets to commercial durability standards, to specifically handle the increased weight requirements of a large rental home kitchen.
Q: How can you over-build your cabinets like this and still be price competitive?
A: When you buy a "Factory" cabinet from a "home center" or "kitchen design center", you are buying from a distributor who buys the cabinets from a manufacturer. The distributor typically marks up the factory price from 75 – 150%. When you buy from us, you are buying directly from the manufacturer, eliminating the distributor's markup. This is how we can custom build for you a much better product and install it for about the same price.
Q: What material do you use to build your cabinets?
A: Since we are a custom cabinet manufacturer, we build them using what ever material the customer wants. This typically ranges from melamine to veneered plywood or even MDF. Our only material requirement is that it be 3/4" thick, to meet our strict durability standards.
Q: Who does the installation?
A: A good question, because the quality of the install makes or breaks the job. That’s why we never sub out our installations, but rather reserve this critical task for our own staff installers who have been with us for many years and are considered the best on the beach. They are seasoned professionals who do amazing work.
Q: Do you do personal homes as well, or just rentals?
A: The kitchen in your personal home does not necessarily need the increased strength of our cabinets, but many of our customers just like knowing their kitchen is exceptionally well built, in addition to the many other benefits we offer. About 20% of our installs go into personal homes.
Q: I have an older home that was not built to today's standard code, like my ceilings are really low. Can you accommodate odd sizes for my home?
A: Unlike "Factory" cabinets, we build them any size, meaning any height, width or depth which allows us to accommodate the odd size requirements often found in older homes. This unique ability also comes in handy when dealing with wide screen entertainment centers and other custom sized work.
Q: How long will it take to replace my kitchen cabinets and countertops?
A: We combine CAD/CAM design systems with CNC cutting/boring technology. This means we can build a typical kitchen in as little as 2 days, verses a 4-8 week lead time for "Factory" cabinets. As long as you are not replacing the flooring or moving any plumbing, we can usually remove your existing cabinets and install your new kitchen in less than a week.
Q: Do your designs differ significantly from other companies?
A: I'd say I tend to use far more extra wide drawers and pullouts than most designers, especially for pots & pans. That's why we use commercial quality dovetail drawers with full extension commercial quality slides rated for 100 lbs, so that you can load them up with heavy stuff and not worry about the bottom coming out (a common problem with Factory cabinets).
Q: Do you offer pullouts and other extras that other companies offer?
A: Sure do! Spice racks, pullout trash bins, skillet racks, you name it, we have it.
Q: I'm interested in a painted & glazed look. Do you do this?
A: Yes, that’s a very popular look right now and we do it a lot. Any door style, any paint color, any glaze! We also have a new series of glazed thermofoil doors that look stunning.
Q: Do you make countertops as well?
A: We fabricate laminate, solid wood and solid surface countertops in-house using WilsonArt, Formica, LG HiMacs & Staron materials. We also partner with several stone fabricators for granite and quartz countertops. Stop by our showroom to see the incredible selection of colors and textures to choose from.
Q: Why do you build your cabinets so much stronger than other cabinet companies?
A: The Outer Banks is primarily a Vacation Rental Home market, so the majority of our installs go into rental homes. A rental home is designed differently than your personal home, with far more bedrooms and baths packed into the house than normal, to sleep as many occupants as possible, but the kitchen size is frequently the same as a normal house. The cabinets in a rental home need to hold enough dishes, plates, bowls, glasses for 1.5 times maximum occupancy, which in many of the larger homes equals a setting for 40 people. This is over 4 times the weight that "Factory" cabinets are engineered and built to hold and why they tend to come apart after a few years in a rental home, and is exactly why we build our cabinets as strong as we do. They are built to take the additional weight.
Q: I have a small kitchen and an even smaller buget, can you still help me?
A: Although our gallery shows mostly larger jobs, we also do a lot of small beach box homes. We are NOT the cheapest price in town, you can't build a product like ours and install it for the same price as the cardboard cabinets most places sell, but we do offer the best value for your buck, and can usually find a way to meet any budget.
Q: I've seen taller vanities in newer homes, do you offer these?
A: Yes, taller (kitchen height) vanities are a major trend in bath design and that is our standard vanity height now.
Q: Do you just do kitchens?
A: We manufacture cabinets and countertops for any application; kitchens, bathroom vanities, entertainment centers, built-in's, laundry rooms, even garages! Residential or Commercial. We also produce oversized conference/dining tables, under-bed drawers and dressers, all built to our commercial quality standards.
Q: Do you make cabinets for outdoor use?
A: Yes we do. We build them using a material called King Starboard, which is typically used for outdoor furniture, or Marine Grade Plywood. Both products machine well on our CNC, and will last for many years in a salt air environment.
Q: I want to remodel my kitchen, but may also want some other things, like a window added and new flooring, possibly new decking. Do you handle this as well?
A: You will need a General Contractor involved to coordinate the many trades involved in your project. We currently do work for over 30 builders in this area and will be happy to recommend several who are best suited for the size and complexity of your job.
Q: Do you make Face Frame or Frameless Cabinets?
A: We only make Frameless, also known as "Full Access" or "Euro Style" cabinets. This is a more modern design and is far more "user friendly" since they don't have that annoying center stile between the doors (hence the name Full Access).
Q: What are Thermofoil Doors?
A: Thermofoil (also known as RTF) doors are machined out of MDF, and then shrink wrapped in a tough PVC Vinyl. They are very durable, color fast and won't shrink or swell as real wood doors do with the changing of the seasons. They have been used for many years and we now have the new 5 Piece styles w/Glazing. These doors look stunning and work very well in both rentals and personal homes.
Q: I have an older home with Juniper ceilings and walls. I want a new kitchen, but I want it to look like it's original to the house.
A: This is a common request. We can build for you a new kitchen with all the modern features, but use doors made from Rustic/Knotty Alder to make it look like it's original to the house. Stop by our shop and borrow a sample door to see just how well it will match your existing woodwork.
Q: Do you accept major credit cards? I'd like to charge my new kitchen so that I can get the points and mileage.
A: Yes, we are happy to accept all major credit cards.
Q: Anything we should be wary of while shopping for cabinets?
A: There are several local suppliers who now sell cabinets from China. They ship flat packed and are assembled on-site, so they often market them as "assembled in the USA" hoping to trick you into thinking they locally made, but make no mistake they are made in China using substandard materials and will quickly fall apart.
Q: Your gallery looks very different than the photos on your competitor's website. Why is that?
A: The photos you see on our website are all actual kitchens we have built and installed. Many of our competitor's photos are merely pictures of their showroom, or stock, staged photos provided to them by their "factory" cabinet suppliers. You're right, they just don't look the same as a real, lived in kitchen!